The Collapsing Empire
The Interdependency, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Wil Wheaton
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By:
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John Scalzi
About this listen
2018 Locus Award, Best Science Fiction Novel
Our universe is ruled by physics, and faster-than-light travel is not possible - until the discovery of The Flow, an extradimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transports us to other worlds, around other stars.
Humanity flows away from Earth, into space, and in time forgets our home world and creates a new empire, the Interdependency, whose ethos requires that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It's a hedge against interstellar war - and a system of control for the rulers of the empire.
The Flow is eternal - but it is not static. Just as a river changes course, The Flow changes as well, cutting off worlds from the rest of humanity. When it's discovered that The Flow is moving, possibly cutting off all human worlds from faster-than-light travel forever, three individuals - a scientist, a starship captain, and the empress of the Interdependency - are in a race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse.
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- Unabridged
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The date is 1966 of the Galactic Era, almost three thousand years from now, and the Republic, created by the human race - but not yet dominated by it - finds itself in an all-out war. They stand against the Teroni Federation, an alliance of races that resent Man's growing military and economic power. The main battles are taking place in the Spiral Arm and toward the Core. But far out on the Rim, the Theodore Roosevelt is one of three ships charged with protecting the Phoenix Cluster.
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Good Fun
- By Lars on 04-25-08
By: Mike Resnick
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Variable Star
- By: Robert A. Heinlein, Spider Robinson
- Narrated by: Spider Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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At his death in 1988, Robert A. Heinlein left a legacy that almost single-handedly defined modern science fiction. But one of Heinlein's masterpieces was never finished. In 1955, he began work on Variable Star, a powerful and passionate tale of two young lovers driven apart by pride, power, and the vastness of interstellar time and space. Now, the Heinlein estate has authorized award-winning author Spider Robinson to expand his outline into a full-length novel. And the result is vintage Heinlein.
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Spider WHO
- By Randall on 04-25-09
By: Robert A. Heinlein, and others
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The Engines of God
- By: Jack McDevitt
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Humans call them Monument-Makers. An unknown race, they left stunning alien statues scattered on distant planets throughout the galaxy, encoded with strange inscriptions that defy translation. Searching for clues about the Monument-Makers, teams of 23rd century linguists, historians, engineers and archaeologists have been excavating the enigmatic alien ruins on a number of planets, uncovering strange, massive false cities made of solid rock. But their time is running out.
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Conceptually intriguing, but uneven writing style
- By Michael G Kurilla on 05-12-11
By: Jack McDevitt
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Mutineer
- Kris Longknife, Book 1
- By: Mike Shepherd
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Kris Longknife is a daughter of privilege, born to money and power. Her father is the prime minister of her home planet, her mother the consummate politician's wife. She's been raised only to be beautiful and marry well. But the heritage of the military Longknifes courses through Kris' blood - and, against her parents' objections, she enlists in the Marines.
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Harsh reviews seem undeserved to me
- By Jeffery on 09-29-10
By: Mike Shepherd
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Pilot X
- Pilot X, Book 1
- By: Tom Merritt
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Pilot X is Ambassador of the Alendans, a race with the ability to move through space and time as guardians of the timeline. Locked in ongoing conflict with the Sensaurians, an organic hive mind that can send messages in thought throughout its own history, and the Progons, a machine race who can communicate backwards in time, Pilot X finally manages to create peace among the three races.
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Great Story - wish there was more
- By Howard on 03-29-17
By: Tom Merritt
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The Man Who Used the Universe
- By: Alan Dean Foster
- Narrated by: Paul Ansdell
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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No one knows the true motives of Kees vaan Loo-Macklin. He's a mastermind criminal who gave up his place at the head of the dark underworld to become a legitimate member of Evenwaith's cities. But soon he was reaching out to powerful enemies - the slimy aliens called the Nuel. Loo-Macklin negotiates an illusory peace agreement and gains precious alien secrets in the process. Is he after peace, power or pure evil? With enemy starships beginning to amass, we won't have to wait long to find out.
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Idolized this book in paper in the 80's
- By Tom on 09-06-24
By: Alan Dean Foster
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The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In what is considered one of Heinlein's most hair-raising, thought-provoking, and outrageous adventures, the master of modern science fiction tells the strange story of an even stranger world. It is 21st-century Luna, a harsh penal colony where a revolt is plotted between a bashful computer and a ragtag collection of maverick humans, a revolt that goes beautifully until the inevitable happens. But that's the problem with the inevitable: it always happens.
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Heinlein's Masterpiece
- By Peter on 12-04-06
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A Just Determination
- JAG in Space, Book 1
- By: Jack Campbell
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Ensign Paul Sinclair has been assigned to the orbiting, military spacecraft, USS Michaelson, as its sole legal advisor. But when the ship's captain faces court-martial following the destruction of a civilian research vessel, Sinclair finds himself defending a doomed officer.
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Leadership is leadership, regardless of setting...
- By carl801 on 08-21-09
By: Jack Campbell
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On the Imperium's Secret Service
- Imperium Cicernus, Book 1
- By: Christopher G. Nuttall
- Narrated by: Genvieve Bevier
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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The Imperium; a million worlds, trillions upon trillions of humans and aliens, an empire that dominates half the galaxy... an empire that is falling into chaos, revolution and civil war. Only a handful of people are struggling to keep the Imperium together, knowing that the brutality of its rule is infinitively preferable to the chaos of its fall. This is their story. Mariko and her sister were independent shippers and ace pilots, until they ran afoul of the law on a minor planet and ended up jailed and enslaved.
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Read Pete's evil overlord list
- By Schuyler Bostedt on 06-11-15
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A Hymn Before Battle
- Legacy of the Aldenata
- By: John Ringo
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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With Earth in the path of the rapacious Posleen, the Galactic Federation offers help to the backward humans - for a price. You can protect yourself from your enemies, but God save you from your allies!
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Another heads up!
- By Dr. Daniel Chapman on 06-12-14
By: John Ringo
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Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the facts that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces; (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations; and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.
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Obumwe said, Eagan said, Wilson said, Rickney said
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Equipped with the entirety of human knowledge, a sentient ship is launched on a last-ditch journey to find a new home for civilization. Trillions of miles. Tens of thousands of years. In the space between, the AI has plenty of time to think about life, the vastness of the universe, everything it was meant to do, and—with a perspective created but not limited by humans—what it should do.
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Lovely story! Lovely performance
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Little Fuzzy [Jimcin]
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On the planet Zarathustra, a sunstone prospector named Jack Holloway has a mysterious small, "fuzzy" alien show up at his door and make itself at home. Jack names it "Little Fuzzy" and the creature's whole family soon joins them. Hardened prospector Jack is transformed into their "pappy" and chief protector and his life is changed forever.
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Great Story!
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By: H. Beam Piper
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Starter Villain
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Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
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Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
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By: John Scalzi
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When the Moon Hits Your Eye
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- Unabridged
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For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.
By: John Scalzi
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New York Times best-selling and Hugo Award-winning author John Scalzi gift-wraps 15 short takes on the holiday season - interviews with holiday notables, "informational" articles about TV specials and Christmas carols, short stories and poems, and even a couple of nods to Thanksgiving and New Year’s - and puts them all into a stocking stuffer-sized package that makes the perfect gift for friends, family, or yourself.
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Very Scalzian indeed!
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By: John Scalzi
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The President's Brain Is Missing
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The question is, how can you tell the President's brain is missing? And are we sure we need it back?
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Not my cup of tea (Kelly SAID)
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By: John Scalzi
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The Dispatcher
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Zachary Quinto - best known for his role as the Nimoy-approved Spock in the recent Star Trek reboot and the menacing, power-stealing serial killer, Sylar, in Heroes - brings his well-earned sci-fi credentials and simmering intensity to this audio-exclusive novella from master storyteller John Scalzi. One day, not long from now, it becomes almost impossible to murder anyone - 999 times out of a thousand, anyone who is intentionally killed comes back. How? We don't know.
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IT'S HARD TO GET MYSTICAL ABOUT YOUR JOB
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By: John Scalzi
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The God Engines
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Captain Ean Tephe is a man of faith, whose allegiance to his lord and to his ship is uncontested. The Bishopry Militant knows this — and so, when it needs a ship and crew to undertake a secret, sacred mission to a hidden land, Tephe is the captain to whom the task is given....
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I love Scalzi's writing but not this book
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By: John Scalzi
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The Mercy of Gods
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The Carryx—part empire, part hive—has waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy in its conflict with an ancient and deathless enemy. When they descend on the isolated world of Anjiin, the human population is abased, slaughtered, and put in chains. The best and brightest are abducted, taken to the Carryx world-palace to join prisoners from a thousand other species. Dafyd Alkhor, assistant to a prestigious scientist, is captured along with his team.
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Incredible
- By Davey Francis on 08-15-24
By: James S.A. Corey
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Constituent Service
- A Third District Story
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Amber Benson
- Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
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Ashley Perrin is fresh out of college and starting a job as a community liaison for the Third District–the city’s only sector with more alien residents than humans. Ashley’s barely found where the paper clips are kept when she’s beset with constituent complaints–from too much noise at the Annual Lupidian Celebration Parade to a trip-and-fall chicken to a very particular type of alien hornet that threatens the very city itself. And if that’s not terrifying enough, Ashley is next up at the office karaoke night.
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Short and fun!
- By Andrew on 10-04-24
By: John Scalzi
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Outland
- Quantum Earth, Book 1
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
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When an experiment to study quantum uncertainty goes spectacularly wrong, physics student Bill Rustad and his friends find that they have accidentally created an inter-dimensional portal. They connect to Outland - an alternate Earth with identical geology, but where humans never evolved. The group races to establish control of the portal before the government, the military, or evildoers can take it away. Then everything changes when the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts in an explosion large enough to destroy civilization and kill half the planet.
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I made myself finish. Glad I did.
- By RJPF on 05-26-19
By: Dennis E. Taylor
What listeners say about The Collapsing Empire
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- Femie
- 05-05-18
Such high hopes
I’ve listened to over 300 titles and never written reviews, but this book has inspired me to do so.
And unfortunately not for the right reasons.
The narrator was just awful!
Male and female characters all sounded the same (I’ve never been so thankful for a “he said” or “she mentioned” before). Actually I thought that one character was female for most of book, until the narrator said “he thought”
One of the main characters sounded older than his father, who sounded like a teen from south beach, Florida. And that’s just the tip of the ice berg.
I am not sure I can honestly review the book because the narrator made the characters so indistinct and made it so hard to loose yourself in the story.
That said, Scalzi didn’t do much to make the characters endearing or give them much personality. I can usually be very empathetic to characters and their situations, in this 9 hour read I basically don’t feel like I know any of the major players, care about any of them or feel like they have anything truly at stake.
Simple logical thought processes and reactions seemed outside of the reach of so many characters and at other times realizations that should have taken work to come to came like a gift from God.
I know others have felt like this book just kind of ended in the middle, but I feel as though a lot of the plot was rushed at the end and neatly laid out with no intrigue or risk taken. Yes, there is sort of a cliffhanger, but if this first book is anything to go by, in the end they all live happily ever after.
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20 people found this helpful
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- NonEuclidean
- 06-01-17
Mediocre
A few pages out of Foundation and some meh storytelling. It has potential to develop into something great with subsequent books.
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19 people found this helpful
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- Trudy Owens
- 03-28-17
A galactic empire story with a twist
Wil Wheaton is a good narrator, but I couldn't always tell the women from the men.
There are several stories going on here since the Interdependency is so far-flung. Some of the mysteries that are solved at the end you didn't even know were mysteries early on. Fascinating! Characters you thought you understood suddenly change in your perception as you understand their motivations. Brilliant!
There is science and tech for the sci-fi geek, and psychology and motivation for the literarily-minded. When the mystery of the conspiracy on End is cleared up, you are left with a ruler who never wanted to rule, governing an empire about to collapse due to the loss of communication and transport. She finds strength to be what she must, and inner resolve to do the right thing for humanity even if that ends the Wu family's dynasty.
This story ends, not on an annoying cliffhanger, but rather a titillating one. The setup is so different from other galactic empire tales that you will anxiously await the sequel!
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8 people found this helpful
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- Wall
- 04-01-17
More of the same Scalzi
What did you like best about The Collapsing Empire? What did you like least?
If you haven't read/listened to Scalzi before, then skip this one and listen to one of his earlier works instead.
If you're familiar with and like Scalzi, then realize before you buy this one that it's just more of the same. And to this listener, who has read nearly all of his previous work, Scalzi's style is getting rather repetitive. Furthermore, this novel contained an excessive and gratuitous amount of profanity and sex---enough to turn this reader off from following up with the sequels. I curse and I like sex too, but that's not why I read science fiction.
I've crossed Scalzi off my list of authors to pay attention to, as his last two or three works just haven't offered anything new or appealing to me. There are far, far better sf writers out there today.
Would you be willing to try another book from John Scalzi? Why or why not?
No. I've had it with Scalzi.
Have you listened to any of Wil Wheaton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Par for the course.
Could you see The Collapsing Empire being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
Nope.
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7 people found this helpful
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- David
- 05-03-17
Not as good as his others.
Scalzi is my favorite author but this book lacks the humor and depth of creativity of his other books.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Anthony D
- 04-09-17
Its ok.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
Will Wheaton sounds like he will corner you in a bar and tell you who his favorite Green Lantern is for 3 hours.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Lifesavr
- 03-28-17
Surely interesting
Looking forward to the next book. Narrator is wonderful!
I am reminded of our present day dilemma about global warming and the bureaucracy of saving ourselves or not!
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3 people found this helpful
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- nicorellius
- 04-03-17
great story! can't wait for the rest
I pretty much gobbled up all of Scalzi's books, so this was a treat. if you liked his other books, this one will fit right in. the language is colorful and very funny.
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- K. MURPHY
- 11-13-17
Looking forward to see where it goes
This was a great start to a series. John Scalzi has never disappointed me. “AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-24-17
Good listen
This book was a good listen for several trips. I drive approximately 1.5 hours each way, several times per month. The story was nerdy, but engaging! Will Wheaton did an excellent job narrating.
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